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Terms of Use

By using and/or visiting This American Life websites (“Website”) you agree to all of these terms and conditions. If there are any terms and conditions to which you do not agree, do not use the Website. Additionally, applications presenting our audio and data must abide by our Terms of Use for Apps.

1. Accounts
In order to use some features of the Websites, you must create an account. When creating your account, you must provide accurate and complete information and are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account. You must keep your account password secure. You must notify This American Life immediately if you believe there has been unauthorized use of your account. When you create an account you must not use a false or misleading name or a name that you are not authorized to use. Impersonating another person on This American Life websites is prohibited.

2. Representations and Warranties
Some This American Life websites incorporate Uploaded Content submitted by registered users (“members”). By uploading and/or sharing any content on the Website, including but not limited to any written, film, video, audio, photographic or other recording or images (collectively, “Uploaded Content”), you represent and warrant that (a) you are the original author or creator of the Uploaded Content and/or have full copyright, title and interest in and to any Uploaded Content, (b) you have the full power and authority to upload and/or share the Uploaded Content on the Website and to grant the rights granted by these terms and conditions to This American Life, that applies to any Uploaded Content that you upload/share on the Website, which is hereby incorporated by reference, (c) no other consents, authorizations or payments are necessary to permit This American Life and/or other Members’ full use and enjoyment of the rights granted herein, (d) the use of any element of the Uploaded Content will not violate or infringe upon the trademarks, trade names, copyrights, patents, rights or privacy or publicity or any other personal or proprietary rights of any person or entity, and shall not defame or libel any person or entity, (e) you will not publish falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage This American Life or any third party; (f) submit material that is, obscene, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate, (g) post or disseminate advertisements or solicitations of business, (h) impersonate another person, (i) solicit any user for material gain or (j) produce spam throughout the Website publicizing a product or event.

3. Uploaded Content Ownership & License to This American Life websites
For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in the Uploaded Content that you submit. However, by uploading and/or sharing any Uploaded Content on the Website, you grant This American Life an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to use, edit, reproduce, distribute, broadcast, advertise, promote, publicly display, create derivative works based upon and including, and/or otherwise use, at its option and in its sole discretion, the Uploaded Content in connection with the Website, advertising or promotion of the Website, tal.fm, shortcut.thisamericanlife.org, tal.fm/shortcut, store.thisamericanlife.org, other properties, products and services, and/or in connection with other material relating or referring to the Website, in any and all languages, formats and media, now known or later devised. You hereby waive and relinquish any right that you may have to inspect, examine or approve any uses of the Uploaded Content by This American Life in connection with This American Life Websites, and the advertising or promotion thereof. You further waive and relinquish any and all claims that you may now or hereafter have in any jurisdiction to so-called “moral rights” or rights of “droit moral” against This American Life with respect to the results and proceeds of the Uploaded Content and agree that This American Life may combine, alter or modify, without limitation, such work. This American Life does not endorse any Uploaded Content that is shared/uploaded on the Website by a Member or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and This American Life expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with any such Uploaded Content. If a Member violates the rules herein, This American Life, may in its sole and reasonable discretion, remove the Uploaded Content submitted by that Member from the Website and/or terminate his/her account without permission to re-join under a separate name. Uploaded Content that is found to violate the terms and conditions herein or that is being used for non-personal, commercial purposes, including but not limited to links to any third party websites, may be removed without prior notification. If This American Life exercises any such rights, the rights given to This American Life to any Uploaded Content already supplied to This American Life shall survive termination.

4. Name, Likeness, Voice
By uploading/sharing Uploaded Content on the Website, you grant to This American Life the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide and royalty-free right to use, exhibit, reproduce, distribute and publicly display your name, approved likeness, voice and biographical information in connection with the reproduction, display, distribution, public performance, transmission and/or broadcast of any Uploaded Content, in any and all media now or hereafter known.

5. Third-Party Sites
The Website enables Members to link to third-party websites. This American Life has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites. By using the Websites, you expressly relieve This American Life or its agents of any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party websites linked to the Website.You understand that when using the Websites, you will be exposed to content from a variety of sources, and that This American Life is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such content. You further understand that you may be exposed to Content that is inaccurate, offensive, indecent or objectionable and you agree to waive any legal or equitable rights or remedies you have or may have against This American Life and agree to indemnify and hold This American Life, its agents, owners/operators, affiliates and/or licensors harmless to the fullest extent allowed by law regarding all matters related to your use of the Website.

6. Automated Systems
You agree not to use or launch any automated system that accesses the Website in a manner that sends more request messages to our servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period by using a conventional online web browser; including but not limited to, robots, spiders or offline readers. However, This American Life may grant operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the Website for the sole purpose of creating publicly available searchable indices of the Uploaded Content on the Website, but not caches or achieves.

7. Warranty Disclaimer
You agree that your use of the Website shall be at your sole risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Website’s officers, directors, employees, and agents disclaim all warranties, express or implied, in connection with the Website and your use thereof. This American Life makes no warranties or representations about the accuracy or completeness of the Website's Uploaded Content or the Uploaded Content of any third-party websites linked to this Website and assumes no liability or responsibility for any (a) errors, mistakes, or inaccuracies of Uploaded Content on the Website, (b) personal injury or property damage, of any nature whatsoever, resulting from your access to and use of our Website, (c) any unauthorized access to or use of our secure servers and/or any and all personal information and/or financial information stored therein, (d) any interruption or the cessation of transmission to or from our Website (e) any bugs, viruses, trojan horses, or the like, which may be transmitted to or through our Website by any third-party, and/or (f) any errors or omissions in any Uploaded Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your use of any Uploaded Content posted, emailed, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the Website. This American Life does not warrant, endorse, guarantee, or assume responsibility for any product or service advertised or offered by a third-party through the Website or any hyperlinked website or featured in any banner or other advertising, and This American Life will not be a party to or in any way be responsible for monitoring any transaction between you and third-party providers of products or services. As with the purchase of a product or service through any medium or in any environment, you should use your best judgment and exercise caution where appropriate.

8. Limitation of Liability
In no event shall This American Life, its officers, directors, employees, or agents be liable to you for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages whatsoever resulting from any (a) mistakes, or inaccuracies of the Uploaded Content on the Websites, (b) personal injury or property damage, of any nature whatsoever, resulting from your access to and use of the Websites, (c) any unauthorized access to or use of our secure servers and/or any and all personal information and/or financial information stored therein, (d) any interruption or the cessation of transmission to or from the Websites, (e) any bugs, viruses, trojan horses, or the like, which may be transmitted to or through the Websites by any third party, and/or (f) any errors or omissions in any Uploaded Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your use of any Uploaded Content posted, emailed, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the Website, whether based on warranty, contract, tort or any other legal theory, and whether or not the company is advised of the possibility of such damages. The foregoing limitation of liability shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction.

9. Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless This American Life, affiliates, subsidiaries, officers and directors, agents, employees and partners, and any parties with whom it may contract to provide its services, from and against any and all claims, actions, suits, costs, liabilities, judgments, obligations, losses, penalties, expenses or damages (including, without limitation, reasonable legal fees and expenses) of whatsoever kind and nature imposed on, incurred by or asserted against This American Life, arising out of any breach or alleged breach by you of any representation, warranty, covenant or obligation pursuant to this Agreement.

10. Modification or Amendment of Agreement
The provisions of this Agreement may be waived, altered, amended, modified, or repealed, in whole or in part, only by This American Life. Notice of any amendments and/or modifications shall be posted on the Websites at least three days prior to their effective date. In the event that you do not consent to any such amendments and/or modifications, your sole recourse shall be to terminate this Agreement. Modifications/amendments of any portion of this Agreement shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

11. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your copyrights have been infringed, please follow the procedure set forth in our Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice Policy , which is expressly incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this Agreement.

12. Ability to Accept Terms of Service
By uploading/sharing any Uploaded Content on this Website, you affirm that you are either more than 18 years of age, or an emancipated minor, or possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, representations and responsibilities set forth in this Agreement, and to abide by and comply with this Agreement.

13. Independent Contractors
You and This American Life are independent contractors and nothing herein shall be deemed to constitute a partnership between, or joint venture of, you and This American Life or constitute either party the agent of the other. You shall not hold yourself out contrary to the terms of this paragraph, and This American Life shall not become liable for any representation, act or omission by you contrary to the provisions of this Agreement.

14. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
This Agreement and all questions respecting the negotiation, execution, construction, performance, interpretation, breach or enforcement of this Agreement, or the rights, obligations and liabilities of the parties hereto, shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York. The parties agree that any and all disputes, claims or litigation arising from or related in any way to this Agreement or the parties’ relationship hereunder shall be litigated only in a court of competent jurisdiction located in New York County, State of New York.